The Breath Of Life
by calla lilly rose
Summary: A hit, a run, and life almost ends for a shining star.


Dear readers, when I first wrote The Breath Of Life, it was early January of last year. I was still new to the Fanfiction ways... and to writing in general. Admittedly, the POV in the first published version was choppy, and, frankly, after looking back ... I had no idea what I was doing with Steve there in the first place. I just remember wanting him to be there.

Now, after all these stories (and a few more in the making) I wanted some reflection on where I'd started from, and after reading the original post of this story, I felt it needed a clean-up. So here it is. For those who remember the first version, I hope I haven't upset you by wanting to make what I'd made better. For those who haven't read it before, I hope you enjoy it. Any reviews – criticisms or critiques, are welcome.

Thank you. Calla Lily Rose

All rights and characters belong to Susan Hinton.

**The Breath Of Life**

**Version II**

XXX

Darry and Soda fumbled for their jackets and tumbled out the door then down the steps. _Jesus Christ!_ Soda thought,_ he's got a freaking fifteen minute head start on us. How're we ever gonna find him?_ "Which way?" he called out.

"This way" Darry screamed back, several paces ahead and widening the gap. His football days may have been over, but his speed wasn't lost.

"Wait, Darry! Stop!" Soda called out, breathless and no match to either of his brothers when it came to athletics. In one short millisecond, he changed course and bounded up a set of nearby steps, hoping another set of eyes could make up for his slowness. He pounded on the Randle's door, hoping Steve was home and not still out on his date. A moment later the door opened, a bleary eyed Steve standing in front of him. In the meantime, Darry had barreled on ahead, not even slowing to give Soda a second glance.

"Sodapop? Hey man, whassup?"

"Pony...seen him?" Soda managed, gulping air between words as he braced against the door frame for support.

"Ahh shit...hold on, I'm coming" Steve needed no other encouragement to follow his buddy. It was well past two in the morning and that little shit of a brother of theirs, as Steve so lovingly referred to him at times like this, was always doing something to get himself in trouble - whether he meant to or not. He shoved his feet in his shoes and bounded after Soda, who was already off and running down the street again.

Soda was trying to catch up to Darry, already a block ahead of him but had pulled up at the corner, obviously confused and unsure which way to go. That pause gave Soda and Steve a chance to catch up.

"I'll go left, you two go right. Circle the block and I'll meet you at the park!" And like that, they were off again.

"What happened?" Steve finally asked between breaths as their feet pounded the street again.

"Darry... hit... Pony...." Soda explained between breaths. "Pony...took off..... Gotta.... find him! Come on!" The two of them sprinted down the street, Steve having a hard time keeping up with his worry stricken friend. Still, he managed to stay on Soda's heals.

_Hit him? Wow! Wonder what'd happened to finally get that response from Muscles?_ His jaw ached from the memories of what it had taken the last time Darry'd lost his temper with one of the gang. Still, being one of the gang was a far cry different from being a full blooded Curtis. _Damn, where did that little snot brother of theirs go already!_ Steve silently wondered as he glanced into shadows and ran past empty alleyways. The answer eluded them both.

They came up hard at one end of the park at nearly the same time Darry barreled in from the other. In the center of the park, near the playground equipment and the fountain - yet hidden in the shadows of several massive oak trees, was the tale-tell sounds of a scuffle in progress. Bending down to get a better look, Steve could tell it was a fight - one where the victim was on the ground clearly outnumbered and no longer fighting back, yet the perp's landing the blows and kicks weren't done with their assault.

"Shit, the Soc's got someone and they're beating the crap outa him. Let's go!"

His tone was – at the time – one nearly of glee. Steve didn't realize yet exactly who the victim was – _yet_ - and was thinking this was gonna be just another fist-on-fist challenge of strength, something he'd been needing lately to help blow off some steam from the week's monotonous grind. Only a second later when he recognized the clothes the kid on the ground was wearing did the gleeful feeling end, blinding anger taking its place.

"**Get the fuck off him**!" Soda screamed, running full throttle at the group of attackers. Steve matching Soda's steps stride for stride.

Darry, meanwhile, had also seen the fight and was quickly approaching from the other side of the park. None of the three would get to land a single blow as the soc's both heard and saw the approaching greasers, scattering back to their car and leaving deep tire grooves in the grass as they fishtailed away. Soda, recognizing who had been on the receiving end, dropped to his knees at Johnny's side.

_Oh man, he's hurt bad again,_ thought Soda as he reached for their young friend. "Johnnycake?" he softly asked, shaking him slightly as Johnny opened his eyes then bucked, scrambled against Soda trying to get out of his grip. "It's okay, Johnny..." Soda softly called out.

"No! The fountain.... Pony......the_ fountain!_"

Instantly, three heads whipped in it's direction. Johnny was left on the ground as the boys bolted over to it. Simultaneously they saw something sticking out of the water, laying like a discarded item on the rim of the fountain. As they came closer, the thing became clear to all three ... a leg, Ponyboy's leg. Another yard of distance covered and the rest of him could be seen – most of him submerged with just his face barely skimming the surface, his hands floating lifeless beside him.

While white clouds of air escaped the trio's lips, none formed over the boy in the water. He wasn't breathing. His lips blueish, his face alabaster white. Dead.

"NO!!!!" Soda crumpled to the ground in a heap, hitting an invisible wall as his legs failed him. He grabbed at the grass trying to propel himself forward, but couldn't move.

Darry and Steve, however, didn't stop. They reached into the fountain and pulled him out of the icy water, laying him down on the concrete. "Pony, don't do this... _Damn it_, Ponyboy!" Darry demanded, calling out to his brother's lifeless body.

Steve only knew to get the kid _out_, after that, he was as helpless as Soda. Darry took charge, grateful now for that class in CPR he'd had to take in order for the guardianship legalities to become official. He felt for a pulse before he ripped Ponyboy's shirt open, feeling his chest for any sign of movement.

Sodapop, meanwhile, finally found some strength and crawled to Ponyboy's side, picking up his brother's lifeless hand once he'd made it over. Soda trembled but not from the cold. It was hard to ignore - lips and fingers an ugly shade of blue, his skin so white, eyes halfway open as they stared without seeing up into the night sky. Like death, but none said it. It was incomprehensible to them that this could happen.

"Ponyboy, don't baby...please!" Sodapop pleaded softly, watching in horror as Darry leaned over, putting his mouth over their youngest brother and blew air into his lungs.

Steve was shucking off his jacket, draping it over the lower half of the boy, no longer thinking up insulting pet names for the kid who'd so often gotten on his nerves. Silently, he prayed this wasn't the end. This kid was Soda and Darry's life, the one responsibility they'd been left with and couldn't let down. And they weren't giving up, none of them … not without a fight.

"Soda..." Darry nearly screamed, getting everyone's attention. Soda's head jerked up, shock and fear the only emotions registered on his face. "Feel for a heartbeat! _Now_!" Darry didn't want to admit he couldn't feel one himself, his fingers already numbed from the brief yet necessary submersion in the icy fountain to pull Ponyboy out. His hands were poised over the chest, ready to pump if a pulse wasn't there.

Soda's hands shook so bad he didn't know if he could tell the difference. At the same time, Steve was checking for a pulse as well, his hands and fingers pushing into spots on the kid's body where he'd felt pulses on his own. In separate locations, both felt it; weak and thready - but there nonetheless. "He's got one." Soda cried, shaking in fear as he took Ponyboy's hand in his own again.

"Yeah, it's there." Steve agreed in a husky yet amazed voice. The kid was like a cat, nine lives and refused to give up any of them.

Darry blinked hard, thankful, then went back to breathing in Ponyboy's mouth, watching the pale chest rise and fall, and rise again seemingly without any intention of doing so on it's own. Then finally, FINALLY, Pony arched his back, flailed his arms and pushed Darry away. He threw up all over himself; fountain water mixed with whatever crap he'd eaten at the drive-in came pouring out in one forceful heave after another. Steve moved out of the way - glad to see the kid moving air again but grossed out at the same time. Soda only moved closer to take Ponyboy under the shoulders, keeping his head from slamming back on the concrete as the waves of nausea hit hard again and again then subsided.

_But -_ he was breathing again. Coughing and retching and sputtering everything within him until he lay limp in Soda's embrace, a shivering pale shadow of the still boy who'd just been snatched from the precipice of death. Soda held Ponyboy close, not caring that Pony was still dry heaving from that foul mess, ignoring the fact that it was seeping into his own clothes and skin. Darry took him, picking him up as Steve moved the jacket back over Pony's exposed chest. He lay limp as a ragdoll in Darry's arms, eyes closed – the only motion being his relentless, uncontrollable shivering.

Steve went back to Johnny's side, who'd watched the whole rescue from a distance; praying to God, Mary, Jesus and Joseph – anyone up there that would listen - that his friend would be okay. He'd managed to get up but couldn't walk very well, stumbling on a badly twisted knee and ankle until Steve tossed an arm around his side - half walking / half carrying him behind Darry and Sodapop out of the park.

"Johnny's fine." Steve called over when Darry paused to turn in their direction. "We'll get there when we can. Go on."

Darry held him close, watching the small clouds of air escape from chattering teeth. He walked quickly with his load, the weight unnoticed. As he made his way out of the park and started on the street leading toward his house, he noticed Pony's fingers flex … life beginning to return to the icy hands.

"I'm sorry Pone. I'm so, so sorry." Darry mumbled into Pony's ear. In response, Pony's head moved - a faint nod brushing against Darry's shoulder as his fingers curled weakly around the buttoned closure of his eldest brother's flannel shirt. Darry sped up once on the sidewalk, noticing there was no grip in the hands trying to hold onto him. "Soda, run ahead and start the tub. Warm water, not hot. Hurry up we'll be right behind you. Go!"

Soda didn't want to leave them but did as he was told. He knew Pony was much too cold and they had to get warmth back into his system. He flung open the gate and took the porch steps two at a time, crossing into the house leaving the front door wide open so Darry wouldn't have to fumble with the knob. As the water flowed into the tub, he heard Darry's familiar shuffle enter the living room, the footfalls not stopping as he brought Pony straight into the bathroom and sat on the toilet as if it were a chair.

"Pony, can you hear me? I've got to warm you up, okay?" Darry asked. Ponyboy didn't speak, just nodded his head slightly. Soda noticed the full body shiver still jolting his brother's body like an electric current and couldn't imagine being that cold. It wasn't just the shivering that scared Sodapop; Ponyboy was still so pale, so _white_; very little color anywhere on his skin.

"Take off his shoes and socks, just start undressing him as best you can."

Darry held him as Soda pulled his worn sneakers off and worked his way up, undoing Pony's jeans and pulling the sleeveless sweatshirt from his brother's ice cold chest. In a few short minutes, he was bare. What he still couldn't get over was how cold Pony was, like _**ice.**_ He'd never felt anyone this frozen before.

"Honey, I'm gonna put you in the tub so you can warm up, okay?" Darry softly told him.

He barely nodded his head again. Soda watched as Darry tested the water first, then began to lower him in. Suddenly, Pony screamed a blood curdling, life ending shriek; followed by torrents of _"__**NO! NO! NO!**__" _He pulled his body back up against Darry's, fighting to stay out of the water.

It terrified Soda to where he couldn't move._ He thinks we're hurting him?** Drowning** him? _

"Soda, help me, damn it!" Darry was doing all he could to hold onto their flailing brother, but he was losing his grip as Pony struggled to free himself from Darry's hands.

"Pony, baby, shhh. It's us, honey. It's me and Darry. We ain't hurting you. Let us help you, shhhhhh." He carefully spoke the words directly into Ponyboy's ear as his hands cradled and stroked Ponyboy's face. The thrashing subsided and Darry dipped him into the warm water. Soda bent down with him at the side of the tub, wiping away tears that fell from his closed lids. They watched how his skin color changed in just a few minutes from an ugly colorless pale white to pink again as warm blood finally began to circulate in his body.

Pony's eyes eased open, his green orbs toggling between one set of pale blue and another of brown, each searching out the other for answers. Would he forgive? Would he be alright? Did he care? Was he still loved?

As the warm water brought heat and strength back into cold limbs, Pony placed one hand on Darry's while reaching with the other for Sodapop. Soda was already there, his own arms wrapped protectively around his younger brother since being placed in the tub minutes before.

"It's okay, Pone. You're gonna be okay now. Oh, Ponyboy ... you're gonna be okay."

Darry, feeling heaviness in his heart mixed with joy and relief, wrapped his arms around both his brothers, rubbing Soda's shoulders one one side while slowly trailing his fingers through Pony's wet hair.

"You okay now, Ponyboy?" Darry whispered. Pony nodded, trying to cover himself with his hands, acutely aware of his exposure in the tub. Darry understood, giving Pony a kiss on the top of his head while getting up. "I'll get your pajamas and stuff."

As Darry turned to leave the bathroom, he noticed Steve and Johnny standing as silent as statues in the doorway. In his haste to warm up his brother, he'd forgotten about Johnny and Steve and now regretted it. However, had Darry even tried to apologize, both would have brushed it off. Not only was Ponyboy a true Curtis, he was also in the most need. Johnny winced as he shifted his stance allowing Darry to pass by. Darry saw it and paused.

"Hey Steve, can you get Johnny some ice for his leg? Johnny, go sit down and get that leg up."

Steve looked down at Johnny's swelling knee and nodded, helping him to the living room. The ice box door opened and cubes rattled around as Johnny settled a throw pillow under his throbbing knee. Darry took a set of sweat pants and a T shirt to the bathroom, setting them on the magazine rack before closing the bathroom door behind him. He knew Ponyboy preferred Soda's help to his, and although it bothered him, he let it go for tonight. He could turn his attention to Johnny, hoping to get that swelling under control so the kid could walk with only a slight limp in the morning.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Sodapop silently helped Ponyboy clean up. He added more hot water to the tub and pried his fingers into his brothers back, helping him relax and warm up. His hair was a mess, smelling of the chemicals the city added to the fountain, so Soda washed it for him. Pony wanted to help but couldn't, his strength zapped completely. He couldn't even lift his arms he was so weak.

Finally Ponyboy was clean and Soda let the water out. He grabbed a towel and helped Ponyboy back to his feet, noticing how shaky he still was. Pony managed to dress himself and get somewhat ready for bed as he dragged his toothbrush across his teeth; then together, the two of them headed to their bedroom where Pony curled in under the covers, Sodapop tucking them beneath his chin.

"I'll be right back," he told Ponyboy, who's only response was a nod.

"How ya doing, Johnny?" he asked the youngster laid out on the couch. His knee was on top of a pillow, an ice pack topping the bandage around the swelling. On his ankle was another wrap. Darry was coming back in from the kitchen with another ice pack and sat it on the ankle. Steve came over with sheets for Johnny and a blanket for himself, plopping himself down to take up residence on the recliner. A weary eye grazed everyone before closing for what was left of the evening. There was no reason to go home, he'd only be back here in a few hours anyway.

"I'm okay. How's Pony?" Johnny asked.

"Sleeping. I think he'll have a cold, but he'll be okay. You need anything Darry?"

"No, little buddy. I'm good." Darry was too filled with thoughts and emotions to really speak his mind. He couldn't get past the fact that he'd actually hit his youngest brother. Hit him. Sent him sailing into the door. Sent him away, nearly dying as a result. And it was all his fault. He couldn't escape that guilt. "I'm fine. Go on to bed. Check on Ponyboy, let me know if he needs anything."

"'Kay. Night."

Soda crawled into bed, cuddling his sleeping brother close to his chest, holding him in his arms while placing his hand over his brother's heart. The skin was warm now, the beat strong. Pony coughed in his sleep and Sodapop was certain he would be sick with a nasty cold by the morning.

_But he was alive_.

Soda knew how close to losing him they had come. As angry as he was at Darry for hitting him in the first place hours ago over a stupid mistake, he was eternally grateful that Darry had also kept his head and did what needed to be done to bring Ponyboy back.

Thanks to Darry, Ponyboy was still alive. For at least another day.

XXX

Calla Lily Rose


End file.
